Question on 10 failed passcode attempts

[donawalt]

With the Apple iOS security so much in the news lately, I was thinking about the setting under Passcode, where the device is erased/wiped after 10 failed passcode entry attempts.

I wonder about the innocent failure - your 3 year old niece grabs your phone without you looking, and starts typing and typing and typing - and whoops your phone is wiped.

Assuming you have a backup, for you it is no worse than a manual full reset and restore of backup, right? It doesn't affect any backups you have made of your device, correct?

Thanks!

 

[pkcable]

Correct you should be able to restore with iTunes, or via the cloud once you re-enter your Apple ID.



PS Is your 3 year old niece good with phones? Maybe the gov't get HER to hack the terrorist's iphones. LOL

 

[donawalt]

Since they changed the AppleID associated with the terrorist's iCloud account and made FBI attempts even more difficult, I would say she is as competent

Thanks for confirming what I thought!

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

I wouldn't worry about that scenario too much because there are timers between passcode attempts. I believe it is after the 5th attempt.

 

[donawalt]

It does say it is 10 attempts, but I think you are right! I forgot that I read somewhere that it starts to increase the time to wait before it allows you to try again if you are failing repeatedly. Thanks, that eases my concerns a lot! (I have backups so who cares lol)

 

[Ledsteplin]

Is this what Y'all refer to? I don't even keep it toggled on.

 

[Rene Ritchie]

Depending on how you prefer to balance security and convenience, you could also switch from a numeric passcode to a strong alphanumeric password. Rather than erasing data to be secure, it would just make it exponentially harder to ever brute force.

 

[robertk328]

Depending on how you prefer to balance security and convenience, you could also switch from a numeric passcode to a strong alphanumeric password. Rather than erasing data to be secure, it would just make it exponentially harder to ever brute force.

This was my thought as well. I leave it off, but with all this stuff going on have been considering a longer password. Muscle memory is hard to change though. I had it set at 4 forever and changed it to 6. Can't tell you how many times I started putting my 4 digit in and realized I had to back it out. Maybe the alpha password is the way to go

 

[doogald]

I changed my passcode to custom numeric (it's one of the options) which allows me to choose a numeric passcode of my choice of length, and you have to hit ok to confirm it. That way anybody who finds or steals my phone won't know how many numbers are in the passcode and it's still fat finger compatible.

 

[robertk328]

I changed my passcode to custom numeric (it's one of the options) which allows me to choose a numeric passcode of my choice of length, and you have to hit ok to confirm it. That way anybody who finds or steals my phone won't know how many numbers are in the passcode and it's still fat finger compatible.

Good point! May have to try that.